By 2050, global demand for agricultural crops is projected to nearly double due to population growth, rising consumption of meat and dairy, and increased demand for biofuels. With climate change exacerbating land and water scarcity and environmental concerns mounting, traditional farming methods are increasingly unsustainable.
Today’s farmers strive to use the least material to get the most out of their crops without being wasteful, in many cases leveraging advanced technology to apply fertilizers judiciously. Yet the fertilizers they rely on haven’t seen significant innovation in over a century.
“The materials that we use right now have limitations,” said Wyatt Arnold, co-founder of Prospect Growth. “Some of them want to escape back to the environment, where they can go on to cause undue effects, like eutrophication, that can negatively impact ecosystems and society.”
Using Nanotechnology To Help Farmers Grow More Using Less
With over $30 billion spent on fertilizers in the United States in 2023 alone, Arnold and his co-founder, Andreas Backhaus, see a major opportunity to bring new technologies to farmers, helping them increase profitability while continuing to be responsible stewards of the environment.
The team develops and manufactures nanoparticle-based fertilizers that deliver nutrients to crops more efficiently than conventional fertilizers. This allows farmers to use less material, improving both their operations and their bottom line and reducing the chance of excess fertilizer seeping back into the soil.
The overall goal? To benefit both farmers and the environment. We recently spoke with the founders to learn more about their journey as sustainable entrepreneurs.
Two Sides of the Same Coin—The Value of Partnership
Arnold and Backhaus, who met as Ph.D. candidates at Yale University, describe themselves as two sides of the same coin—a balanced team with complementary strengths. Arnold has a background in plant science, while Backhaus brings extensive experience in process engineering. So far in their journey, this balance has worked well for the team.
“In a startup, you can’t have too much confirmation bias,” said Backhaus. “It’s valuable to have two people who think in different ways, because you can see where there is overlap. When things make sense to both of us, we gain clarity that we are on the right path because it’s not too skewed in any one direction.”
As they approached the final stage of their Ph.D. journeys, the duo realized they were fully committed to making a bigger impact on the world, understanding that it would require grit and perseverance.
It’s valuable to have two people who think in different ways, because you can see where there is overlap. When things make sense to both of us, we gain clarity that we are on the right path
With their Ph.D.s nearly complete, the duo committed to building their startup full-time, driven by a shared commitment to making a lasting impact.
“I think it’s a bit of a conviction, feeling like what we’ve developed has value,” said Arnold. “And we’d like to see that value translated, but we know we have to be the ones to do the work to make it happen.”
The Path From Academia to a Startup
Making the leap from an academic research environment can be an uncharted path for many founders. The team has navigated this by seeking out programs like the VentureWell Accelerator, completing both stages of the E-Team Program—Pioneer and Propel—and participating in trainings like National Science Foundation I-Corps™.
“The first $5,000 or $10,000 you win can feel more consequential than the first $100,000, because it shows that you can turn your idea into something that can gain traction,” said Backhaus. “Even if it feels redundant at first, applying to as many accelerator-type programs as possible gives value and helps you reiterate your idea over and over again”.
Continually revisiting their concepts through new lenses and different perspectives has helped the duo move their idea out of the university research setting and closer to the farmers and consumers who will benefit directly from their product.
Managing the Upside and Risk
For teams like Prospect Growth, securing patents can be one of the first major formal challenges founders experience. “When you’re working in fields like this—where there’s a lot of upside, but also a lot of risk—you always have to think about where your funding will come from,” said Arnold, noting that this often involves bringing in outside investors. “Often, they’re looking for external signals that your technology is real and protected.” This is where the importance of patenting and intellectual property (IP) comes into play.
The team has leaned on a broad network of support, learning how fellow founders have navigated the process. Instead of starting from scratch, they have been able to move through IP-related hurdles more smoothly.
Feeding the Future
Farming is a tough business with thin margins. Arnold and Backhaus are keenly aware that there is a fine line to walk—any new technology must first support farmers by improving their yields and profitability. That’s why they are focused on delivering solutions that strengthen the bottom line while also benefiting the environment. Farmers want to be good stewards of the land, but they also need to feed their families. The key is creating tools that let them do both.
While Prospect Growth isn’t changing what fertilizers are made of, they are improving how they work. Their technology helps farmers lessen the climate impacts of agriculture without requiring major changes to how they farm. The team is motivated by the potential to not only grow more food with fewer inputs, but to improve profitability for farmers in the process.
Whether you’re a consumer, investor, policymaker, or farmer, food security and sustainability affect us all. By reimagining how fertilizers work, Prospect Growth is helping build a future where science and agriculture work hand in hand to create environmentally and financially sound pathways for farmers.
Hear more from the Prospect Growth co-founders: